Lessons From Maintenance

Yesterday we spent the day having our four items addressed.  Our kitchen is on a slide.  If yours is, as well, this will be news you can use.  Here we see Mark disassembling the cabinet under the cook top.

There has to be extra hose length in order for the slide to move, without pulling them out, and spraying water everywhere.  Some manufacturers don't use a good grade of hose. They use cheap vinyl hoses that degrade over time.

Here is one of our cheap hoses.  In the picture above, you can see the new shiny braided metal hoses which are better.  Looking again at this picture below on the left you can see two yellow O rings.  Over time those things shrink.  When they shrink, they leak.  You will see the water coming out under your slide when this occurs.  So - leaks from under the slide where the kitchen is, generally are a result of failed hose and/or O rings.

Marker lights.  They're everywhere.  They're all over our RV.  One of ours had a hole in it, the other was cracked.  Do you think there is an ANSI standard for the amber lenses?  Why no, no there is not.  Each manufacturer has slightly different dimensions.  You can't just go get a new lens.  You must get the lens and the base with the wiring, dig out the caulk surrounding the base and replace all of it.  Every single marker light on the top our our RV is different.

This is where gas absorption refrigerators go to die.

Normally, when we're in Harrisburg we park over there, next to the other two Class As.  We couldn't get a reservation over there this time.  Given the amount of dust being created by that farmer, I think I'm ok with being on the other side on a back in site.

Today we washed.  I actually washed the insides of the wind shields on the truck and bus.  If the sun ever comes out again, we'll know if my work was acceptable.  Then we washed the pickup.  It was covered in dirt and dead bugs.  Here is Jim lubricating the arms of the tow bar.  Now they are clean and operating smoothly.  When we return to Tucson, he'll order the bushings for the rest of the maintenance.

Tomorrow we move out of the bus and into a hotel.  The closet must be empty, the sheets off the bed and I can't stand it.  We hate hotels!  We hate not having our own kitchen!  Wah!!!  Call me a wahmbulance!!!!!!!!!!